Artistic Rendering- One Shot
by ShandyCandy278
Summary: When a certain Bee-Themed superhero prevents Nathaniel from throwing away one of his old comics, Nathaniel finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place. Why? 1. He knows her identity. 2. She doesn't know that he knows. 3. She wants to read it. 4. His feelings for her are in it. /What fun!/


_("Okay, now you want to add a few more lines here and here." The elder girl pointed to the spots on Nathaniel's paper, and the young red-head nodded. He added a few more_ lines, _like he was instructed to._

 _"Like that?"_

 _"Perfect!" The elder took the stack of papers from her side and rearranged them a bit, with a cover photo of a superhero on top with the words 'The Adventures of SuperNath' in large letters._

 _"You ready to see how it turned out?"_

 _"Yes!" Nathaniel giggled and squirmed impatiently. "Please show me, Senti!" The other laughed._

 _"Alright, Alright." She gave in, opening up the front page. "The Adventures of SuperNath: A Friend in Need.")_

Nathaniel held the old, ameture comic with a sad smile on his face. Although he didn't know where Senti was now, she was the one who had always encouraged him to follow his dream. She always kept it in perspective though- warning him time and time again that there were no completely happy endings in life, but that didn't mean that you couldn't aim for them.

He opened up the first comic he had ever made with extreme fondness, his fingers delicately caressing the page. He had this story memorized, seeing as it was his first.

Although he could improve it vastly, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

He continued to flip through the paper book while he sat on the edge of a fountain at the park, but he paused at a page towards the end. There, in the center of the page, was an amateur drawing of him as a superhero saving his best friend at the time- Chloe.

 _(After reading the book, Senti turned and looked down at Nathaniel, who was grinning happily._

 _"So, were you ever gonna tell me why you put your friend Chloe as the one SuperNath has to save?" She asked. Nathaniel blushed and awkwardly fiddled with his hair._

 _"N-No reason…" He mumbled. His babysitter laughed and ruffled his hair._

 _"If you say so.")_

Nathaniel's smile grew a bit bitter, and he scoffed a little. They had been such great friends when they were younger, and over the first ew months after he had made this he had never gathered the courage to tell her.

Then her mom had disappeared, and she had pushed everyone away. He had tried to move on- Marinette was so close to what Chloe could've been that it was easy to.

But there was always something off with the idea of it, besides the fact that Marinette clearly liked Adrien.

Speaking of- Marinette and Adrien had gotten together about a week ago. It was obvious that, now that they were together, they brought out the best parts of each other. Chloe didn't seem too happy about it, but she didn't try to push them apart anymore. In fact, Nathaniel had watched Chloe ward off other girls who wanted Adrien or guys who wanted Marinette behind the scenes.

For the past few weeks, Chloe had actually been making progress in trying to be nice. Nathaniel wasn't that surprised- he had figured it out when Queen Bee had first showed up to help Rena Rouge, Chat Noir, and Ladybug. It was the only identity out of the four heroes that he had pegged down, though.

He really hadn't been trying to pry, but years of drawing your childhood friend in a super costume of her own at some points had made it easy to recognise Chloe. Despite what others knew or thought, Chloe still held a special place in Nathaniel's heart. He had just learned to bury it deep within himself after he realized that they would never be friends ever again.

Not after her mother's disappearance, anyway.

Nathaniel sighed, standing up and walking over to a trash can by the edge of the park. He had come out here to take a break from spring cleaning- throwing away old comics that he didn't need, some old supplies, and a few homework assignments that had somehow never made it to the trash in years past.

This was one of the few comics that he had left from his childhood, and it was also one of the few that displayed his feelings towards Chloe. While it would be easy to throw those away, this one was attached to a time he could never go back to and people he would probably never meet again.

If he was truly going to move on- to get better and get over it- then he needed to dispose of it. This would be his first real step in the healing process, and a necessary one too.

He held it over the trash can, completely certain that the comic was going to fall into its depths and never be seen again. Her closed his eyes and took a deep breath, willing his hands to let go.

Last second he pulled it close to him indecisively, and he cursed himself. He was supposed to be over this by now! How was it that he could get over Marinette in a few days, but he still hadn't gotten over Chloe?!

He tried again, this time even more determined to never see the comic ever again. His fingers couldn't completely let go, so he made them loose enough for the paper to slip from his hands. Right before it landed in the trashcan, a black glove swooped down from above and snatched it up.

"What is this- it looks like a five-year-old did it. I thought you were a good artist… Nathaniel, was it?" Nathaniel looked up and at the tree branch that Queen Bee, of all the superheroes to come by, was sitting on.

And his comic containing his feelings for her in her hands.

Nathaniel felt his easy-to-heat-up face turn pink.

"I-It's really old." Nathaniel found himself explaining, walking over to underneath the tree branch. He tried to jump up and snatch it back, but Queen Bee held it too high for him to reach.

"It's the first comic that I ever drew, and I'd very much like it back please." Nathaniel moved to climb up the fence next to the tree to have a better reach, but Queen Bee still held it too far away.

"Why were you trying to throw it away?" She asked curiously, looking at the comic with a raised eyebrow. Nathaniel felt his face heat up even more.

"B-Because I'm better now!"

"But clearly it must have some sentimental value." She pointed out. "You were having a hard time throwing it away."

"I need to get over it."

"And throwing this away is supposed to help you?" Nathaniel didn't respond, sighing as he leaned against the tree branch from where he was standing on the fence. It was silent between the two of them for a moment- Nathaniel was trying to gather his thoughts, and Chloe was clearly trying to decide what was making him throw it away.

"Can I read it?" She finally asked, and he looked up at her. Nathaniel bit his lip. Dare he?

 _("Are you ever gonna show it to her?"_

 _"O-Only if she wants to see it.")_

"Sure." He gave in. "But after you're done reading it, you have to give it back to me so that I can throw it away."

"Hmn." That humm was the hum that Nathaniel knew meant 'no promises'. He was about to get down from the fence, but her black hand held itself out towards him. He looked up into her ocean blue eyes, and his blush probaby increased even more.

"I might as well help you up." She said when he didn't move. He eventually placed his hand in hers, and she pulled him up so that they were both sitting on the tree branch.

He awkwardly twiddled with his thumbs, dreading the moment that she found the page where he saved her. Sometimes while she read, she'd lean over and ask him about something that didn't quite make sense to her, and he would have to explain it to her.

While he waited for the inevitable, he pondered about just how he was going to dispose of his comic now. Based on Queen Bee's reaction, he could just throw it away. But if she didn't want him to throw it away, she might follow him and grab the comic from whatever trashcan it landed in.

He'd have to do something more- rip it to shreds? How about burning it? Maybe throwing it into the seine?

When she froze, Nathaniel knew that she had reached THE page.

"Why-" She swallowed- her voice had been unusually high. "Why did you draw yourself saving Chloe Bourgeois? Isn't she a 'pompous, spoiled brat'? I thought everyone hated her."

"I was her friend when we were younger." Nathaniel admitted, reminding himself that he wasn't supposed to know that Queen Bee was Chloe. "She didn't use to be all that bad. I was planning on showing it to her when I had enough courage to do it, but then her mother disappeared and she… she shut everyone out."

"Not that I blame her, I probably would've acted the same- but then she never even tried to get better. She didn't try to change to better her life, or even try to get our friendship back."

He closed his eyes, leaning back and letting out a sigh. He let his frustration, anger, and hurt dissipate into a numbing calm- one that he had somehow become friends with in his life.

"I-I'm surprised you still have it after all this time." The stutter in her voice showed just how off-put she was by it, and Nathaniel tried not to feel the pain strike his heart. Great, now she thought he was a creep. Well, more of a creep than she had previously thought of him as.

"Well…" He sighed, blush increasing on his face as he cleared his throat. "You don't just draw yourself saving just any one of your friends in your first comic."

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and saw how her cheeks were just a touch pinker than normal.

 _'Must be my imagination.'_ He thought, shrugging it off.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"And you still feel that way?"

"Trying not to." He admitted, biting his lip as he looked at the comic in her black-gloved hands.

"Why?" Queen Bee asked. "I-She's been getting better lately, right?"

"Well, yeah. Loads better, actually. It's just…" He paused for a moment, trying to find the right words. "After I realized that she really didn't want to be friends with me anymore, I tried to find someone else to like. And I did, eventually, but now she's with someone else."

"The thing is that, while she's getting better, she hasn't even tried to be friends with me. She's tried with Nino, Sabrina, Alya, all of the other girls in our class- even Marinette, the one person she despised the most out of all of us! But not me." He would have said more, but then it hit him yet again that Chloe was Queen Bee. He kept his mouth shut and swallowed down the rest of his mini-rant, face reddening.

"Sorry, you didn't need to hear my problems. You probably have a lot on your plate, being a superhero and all."

"W-Well, yeah, I do have things to do." Queen Bee replied, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But it's also my job, as a hero, to help lift the problems of others. At least, that's what I'm learning…" The last part was mumbled, but she shook her head and spoke louder.

"I'm glad you told me about it, Nathaniel. It was… enlightening." She turned back to finish reading the comic, and Nathaniel let out a small sigh of relief.

He didn't know what was going through her head, but he was glad that she didn't say 'of course you two aren't friends' or 'of course Chloe isn't interested in being your friend'.

Those responses were still valid, though.

He waited until she finished the comic- and he could tell when she looked between the last page and the cover page for the next part.

"What happens next?" She more demanded than asked.

"I was little, so I still learning." He defended. "I couldn't just do it overnight. And even then- my babysitter was helping me with the drawings and story. Besides…" He looked away from her. "That was a few months before Chloe started pushing everyone away." When Queen Bee didn't respond to his reasoning, Nathaniel held out his hand.

"Well, now you've read it. I'd like my comic back please."

Queen Bee held the comic up to her chest, almost protectively. Her eyes were wide in shock and mild anger- as though he had offended her.

"To throw it away?!" She exclaimed, mortified. When Nathaniel nodded, Queen Bee stood up, still holding the bundle of stapled papers to her chest.

"I-I can't let you!"

"Why?" He asked, confused.

"Because!" She stomped her foot lightly, in a very Chloe-like way. Her face was completely red- probably in anger from the current looks of things.

Why she would be angry was anyone's guess- girls were mysterious and confusing. Chloe especially- she even baffled those of her own gender!

"'Because' isn't a very good reason." Nathaniel pointed out when she didn't say anything else.

"I-It's precious!" She defended. "You said so yourself- it holds a memory of someone you love! And… and you don't just throw away something like that." Guilt shoot him through his heart, making it hard to breath as tears gathered around Queen Bee's eyes.

The difference between this and her fake-crying was clear- when she faked it she was always over dramatic and her eyes showed that she knew she had the upper hand. This time though…

"I-I told you, I'm trying to get over my feelings for her." He repeated, not quite sure even why or what was coming out of his mouth. "They've stayed there for too long and it hurts more and more every day. Y-She clearly doesn't see me as anything more than an acquaintance or annoyance. Never has, not since her mother left, and it clearly never will be. I can't stand any more pain."

He looked up into her shocked ocean-blue eyes, tears threatening to spill from his cerulean eyes like the one falling down her own cheek. He held his hand out again- the one that had moved at one point to rest over his heart.

"So please, Queen Bee, give it back to me." Queen Bee bit her lip and looked down at the ameture art for the cover, holding it slightly away from her chest to do so. She looked between him and the comic, clearly indecisive.

She eventually held it out towards him with great hesitance, but before he could grab it she pulled it back to herself.

"Can I buy it?"

"No." He replied instantly.

"I have two-hundred euros on me!" She tried.

"My comic's not worth that much."

"Then name your price!"

"It's not for sale." She looked between the comic and his awaiting hand again.

"I-If I give it to you, then you probably won't just throw it away! You'll probably do something excessive, like light it on fire to keep me from it!" She pointed out.

 _Dang, was that_ too _cliche of a move to actually try doing?_

"So what if I do?" Nathaniel snapped back. Queen Bee pursed her lips, trying to find a way to either keep it or convince him to not throw it away.

Nathaniel, to be completely honest, had absolutely no idea why she was acting this way. It wasn't like any of the art was actually good- it probably couldn't even sell for a single euro. And if he were to sell it for free, whoever took it would've probably done it out of complete sympathy.

While he tried to puzzle this out, a silence covered in tension encased the two of them. It felt like forever before she spoke, and it was those words that would change everything.

"What-What if she does like you back?"

Nathaniel's face snapped up to look at her so quickly that he was surprised he didn't get hurt. She was looking shy now, only glancing at him every so often and refusing to make eye-contact.

"Wh-What?" Was all he could say.

Chloe? Actually liking him back? Ha- only in his wildest dreams!

But… this was Chloe suggesting that, but why would she try to build his hopes up only to smash them down again? Why fill him with false hope?

Almost as though she could read his thoughts, she spoke again.

"What if, she likes you back, but thinks that you hate her because of the way she's treated you? What if she always regretted doing that to you, but never had the courage to try to befriend you again?"

"What if she was afraid to go up to you and tell you that she liked you, or that she wanted to be friends with you, because she thought you might tell her no and hurt her? What if she had absolutely no idea that you ever felt like that towards her, so she pretended not to feel like that either?"

Tears were streaming down her face now, and she sat down on the tree branch again. She was hugging herself and keeping the comic close to her chest. Her ocean blue eyes stared at him, glassy from her tears. The wave of emotions that came from her eyes almost knocked him off of the tree.

It was like she had let all of her shields down- even those that she had kept on when no one was around.

"What would you do then?" She asked, almost angrily, but her voice was too desperate for it to be so. "Would you still throw the comic away?" A heavy silence weighed down on his shoulders, allowing him to come to grips with what had happened.

It made it almost impossible to speak- despite the fact that his vocal chords had already been rendered useless by her words. He almost struggled to breathe properly as she stared into his eyes- promising only truth in her words.

The shock made his mind numb and unable to completely process the facts that had rendered him immovable- stopping him from thinking all but one thing:

 _Oh._

As the numbness in his head slowly began to ebb away, a smile grew on his face and all he could feel was relief. Sweet, utter relief- a feeling that he clearly hadn't understood properly until this very moment. He felt like he was flying- higher and further away from and troubles and doubts that he had.

 _Oh!_

Still processing what had happened, he gently reached a hand out and placed it over one of her own. He smiled at her when she looked at him- her tears still falling and eyes still glassy.

He was barely able to stop himself from confessing everything at that exact moment, reminding himself that this was Queen Bee, not Chloe that he was talking to- that she didn't know that he knew her identity.

"I-I think…" He admitted, feeling himself getting willingly lost in her eyes. "I think that I wouldn't dare, because it would be the most amazing thing in the world if it was true."

He watched as her eyes portrayed shyness and relief as well, a small smile dancing on her lips. He offered one back to her while his heart did something excitedly in his chest. She broke eye contact after a few moments, looking down at the comic and seeming to consider her options carefully. Finally, she held it out to him, a sad smile on her face..

"I-I believe this belongs to you." She said. Nathaniel looked down at the comic- he had somehow forgotten that that was what had caused this.

Well now it was literally going to be impossible to it throw away! But he didn't really have any use of it, and he needed more room in his room than he already had. How he remembered these facts while still trying to absorb the information was beyond him, but it gave him the courage to reach toward the comic…

And push it back towards her.

She looked up at him at the same time he looked up at her, confusion written on her face in the most adorable way.

An idea of what to say to explain his actions to her came to mind, and he spoke before he thought twice about it.

"Something tells me that this means just as much to you as it does to me." He whispered, their noses almost touching. He heard her breath hitch, and he could smell the perfume on her. She smelled like honey and beautiful flowers that he couldn't name, but he loved it all the same. He leaned a bit closer and tilted his face to the side- over by her ear.

"Besides, I always intended for you to eventually have it, Chloe." He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. Then, before she could react, he jumped off of the tree branch and ran out of there like an akuma was on his heels.

When he had managed to run all the way home and hide in his bathroom without a Bee-themed superhero chasing him/screaming his name, Nathaniel hit his head against the wall repeatedly.

How stupid could he be?!

"I am so dead." He said to himself when his head hurt too much to continue, running a hand through his hair as he leaned against the door.

 _'But… at least she knows now.'_ He thought to himself, unaware of the small half-grin on his face.

The next day, he contemplated faking sick. She would probably kill him either way, but the question was simple:

Would it be better to end his misery now, or prolong it on the chance that she wouldn't kill him in public?

...

Well, it would be rude not to at least say goodbye to his friends.

So he nervously trekked to school, unable to think of anything but how Chloe was going to kill him. With how hyper aware he was, it surprised him when Chloe managed to sneak up on him and tap him on the shoulder.

"Ah!" He exclaimed, whipping around to look at her. "Ch-Chloe! Hi! Um, I-I didn't mean- I'm sorry I-"

"I wanted to commission something." She interrupted. Nathaniel stopped talking and looked her in the eye, trying to figure out what she was planning. Unfortunately, some of her walls had been put up again. Of course they would- they were in a public setting. Besides, he didn't have a translator for helping him understand girls- much less Chloe Bourgeois.

He really wanted one right now, though. Especially the latter.

"O-Oh, uh, what do you want to commission?" He asked. She took a step closer, a flirtatious look on her face as she looked up at him from under her lashes.

 _Yup. She was definitely going to be the death of him._

"I'd like to commission a date." She told him, a small smirk on her face. "As long as that's alright with you."

"O-Of-Of course, Chloe." He managed to get out. She stood up a bit on her tiptoes, leaning close to his ear.

"And if you don't mind, I'd also like a second part to that comic." She quickly went back to her normal height and took a step back, winking at him. "Thank you~! I'll meet you tomorrow at your house- be sure to dress nicely." Then she walked away with Sabrina on her heels. Nathaniel was sure that his face was redder than his hair, and he was more than certain on one thing.

 _He loved that girl._


End file.
